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New
Zealand Shipping Co

NZSC
Page 3: 1915-1939

This
page is under construction!

This page
is one of a series devoted to postcards and photographs of the
New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC). An alphabetical list of ships shown on this page is
shown below. Below the table is a Fleet List in chronological order. There is a table
of individual ship histories on the NZSC Header Page.

The New Zealand
Shipping Company (NZSC) was formed in Christchurch, New Zealand
in 1873. They initially purchased four sailing ships, followed
by 12 more built new for the company in the years up to 1877.
All were just over 1000 gross tons. Two further secondhand sailing
ships were also acquired in 1876 and 1882. Many additional ships
were chartered, chartered tonnage often outnumbering owned ships
in the ratio two-to-one. The passage times between London and
New Zealand for sailing ships were between 74 and a 100 days.

Following
pressure from the New Zealand Government, the NZSC and Shaw Savill jointly chartered the
Stad Haarlem for an experimental return trip in 1879.
She ran with a full complement of 600 passengers in both directions,
taking 57 days from London to Lyttelton via Capetown. Despite
the operational success, the voyage was not profitable, and no
additional subsidies were on offer to run steamships. The Government
continued to push for a steam service, which they thought would
encourage a more "suitable class" of immigrants, plus
it would provide a more reliable service for their frozen meat
exports. Despite not liking steamships, the NZSC chartered the
Fenstanton in 1883, to inaugurate the first steamship
service from the UK to New Zealand. Fenstanton was followed
by the larger British King, built by Harland & Wolff.
The NZSC also chartered the White Star Line'sIonic and Doric, both
of which remained of the service with Shaw Savill. The NZSC then signed
a charter with the Government to run a regularly monthly service
(jointly with Shaw
Savill).
Five new ships were ordered from J.Elder and Co (later the Fairfield
Shipbuilding Company). The ships were named after New Zealand
mountains:- Tongariro, Aorangi, Ruapehu, Kaikoura and
Rimutaka (1), all just under 4500 gross tons. All had clipper
bows, and were barque-rigged. They travelled out via the Cape
of Good Hope, and back via Cape Horn, as the sailing clippers
had done, but more than halved the passage times. Whereas the
sailing ships frequently sighted no land between the UK and New
Zealand, the steamers stopped at Plymouth, Teneriffe, Capetown
and Hobart on the outward journey, and at Montevideo, Rio de
Janeiro and Teneriffe on the return. These routes were maintained
until 1914, when the Panama Canal opened.

The early
1890s were a time of depressed trade, and the NZSC found itself
embarrassed by many difficulties and troubles. In 1890, Mr (later
Sir) Edwyn Dawes took over a a considerable number of shares
in the NZSC from Sir William Pearce, and it was Edwyn Dawes who
steered the company to successful solutions to its problems.
He also transferred the financial control of the company from
New Zealand to London. His reorganisation of the company involved
the replacement of the existing fleet with larger, more economic
ships, the first of which was the Ruahine (1) of 1891,
which was over 6000 gross tons. She had a four-cylinder engine
which was far more fuel-efficient than the previous ships. Ruahine
(1) was a great success, and was followed by six even larger
ships over the next ten years.

In 1912 the
NZSC took over the Federal SN Co, but the two concerns retained
their own identities. In 1916, both companies became part of
P&O, but again they continued to operate separately, although
the exchange of ships between constituent P&O companies became
common. At the end of the First World War, the NZSC had only
four passenger ships remaining. To maintain the regular monthly
service, a fifth ship was needed, so the Shropshire of
the Federal SN Co was rebuilt with extra passenger facilities
as the Rotorua
(2).

In 1929,
the three magnificent 16000 ton motor ships Rangitane (1), Rangitata and Rangitiki (2) were delivered. They
were followed by three equally fine motor cargo ships of 11000
tons in 1931, thoroughly modernising the NZSC fleet. The P&O
liner Mongolia was chartered in 1938 as the Rimutaka (3). Rangitane (1) did not survive the
Second World War, but her sisters ran until 1962 alongside the
three fine new liners Rangitoto, Rangitane (2) and Ruahine
(3),
which were delivered between 1949 and 1951. They were joined
briefly by the ex-Cunard liner Remuera (3) in 1962, following the
withdrawal of the 1929 sisters, bit all passenger services ceased
in 1969. Towards the ends of their lives, the NZSC passenger
and cargo ships adopted Federal funnel colours. In 1973, all
remaining NZSC and Federal ships were amalgamated into the main
P&O fleet.

Turakina
(3) was
sunk by the German armed merchant cruiser Orion off Wellington
in 1940.

Photographic
postcard of Turakina (3).

Rangitane (1) (1929-4?)

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitane.

Kingsway
postcard of Rangitane.

Rangitata (1929-62)

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitata.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitata.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitata.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitata.

Photographic
postcard of Rangitata.

Photographic
postcard of Rangitata.

Photographic
postcard of Rangitata.

Rangitiki (2) (1929-62)

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitiki.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitiki.

Variation
on the image above.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitiki.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitiki.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitiki.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rangitiki.

Photographic
postcard of Rangitiki.

Photographic
postcard of Rangitiki.

Rotorua (2) (1923-40)

At the end
of the First World War, the NZSC had only four passenger ships
remaining. To maintain the regular monthly service, a fifth ship
was needed, so the Shropshire (1911) of the Federal SN
Co was rebuilt with extra passenger facilities as the Rotorua
(2) in 1923. She was lost in 1940 when torpedoed off St Kilda.

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rotorua (2).

Official
New Zealand Shipping Co postcard of Rotorua (2).

Photographic
postcard of Rotorua (2).

Rimutaka (3) (1938-50)

Rimutaka
(3) was
built in 1923 as P&O's Mongolia. She was chartered
to NZSC from 1938 as the Rimutaka, and was sold in 1950
to Incres Line, being renamed the Europa.